During the holiday season, we tend to show our love and gratefulness to our friends and family, but we often neglect ourselves. We might be so busy making Christmas cookies and shopping for the perfect gift that we skip out on sleep and other essentials that we desperately need.

Your well-being is what matters the most. Give yourself the time you need and don’t let anyone pressure you into doing things that don’t interest you. Stress runs down our body and with all the holiday germs floating around (not to mention all the sugar in holiday treats) our immune system is on overload. If you end up falling ill, it’s important to take some rest time so you can start feeling better.

Remember to take a deep breath. Take a warm bath, turn on some soothing music and enjoy a glass of wine or a cup of hot chocolate. Take a nap, read a book, spend time with the person that makes you laugh harder than anyone else, then say goodbye to guilt. Recognize that guilt is not guilt at all, but instead it’s sadness that you couldn’t accomplish all the things you wanted. Sweep that guilt away, you don’t need it.

Make a note of your priorities. You might not be able to accomplish everything you want so it’s important to know what you must get accomplished and focus on those. Move the things that have less of an impact further down the list. Understand that sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day. Acknowledge that and move on. Don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s okay to say no to something you don’t feel like doing. You already have enough on your plate.

This holiday season make sure to put yourself on that holiday list and take care of yourself first! Practice self-love abundantly. You’re worth it!

The LoveEd Movement provides outreach and education for older teens and millennials on the dangers they face on and off-line as well as viable solutions for helping older teens and millennials make healthy relationship choices.

Please check out our Compassionate Dialogues Curriculum for teachers and school personnel to use with pre-teens, teens and millennials who are experiencing distress, depression, or are suicidal or homicidal.